The Miami Heat travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers for the third and final time this season. It’s time to continue our NBA odds series and make a Heat-Pacers prediction and pick.
Indiana has controlled the season series this far, winning both games by a combined 30 points. In Miami's defense, they are a different team than they were at the beginning of the season. One could argue that the 71-day layoff that the Heat had in the offseason brought tired legs into this season.
Whatever the case may be, they have been digging themselves out of the gutter for weeks now. Indiana has been playing well in 2021, thanks in large part to their first time All-Star Domantis Sabonis. This game is separated by less than a bucket. Look for this bout to be a dogfight throughout. Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening Heat-Pacers odds.
NBA Odds: Heat-Pacers Odds
Miami Heat -1.5 (-115)
Indiana Pacers +1.5 (-105)
Over 218 Points (-115)
Under 218 Points (-105)
Why The Heat Could Cover The Spread
The Miami Heat finally snapped a six-game losing streak with their 10-point win over the Knicks in New York. Miami has been a tale of two stories this season as they started out sluggish, then worked their way back up to the four seed in the East, and have since fallen all the way back down to the eighth seed. Their recent struggles have dropped their record below .500 again as well. Let's not dwell on that as there were so many bright spots in their win against the Knicks.
The Miami Heat looked like a team on the court for the first time in a while. Jimmy Butler led the way in the win, dropping 27 points and adding five rebounds and six assists. Bam Adebayo delivered a double-double with 20 points and 18 rebounds. Sharpshooters Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson scored 18 and 14 points respectively. The depth was put on full display in Monday night's win against New York. With Goran Dragic returning to the court as well, the Heat are locked and loaded to go back on a scorching run. This top-five defense will cause fits for a Pacer team that lacks depth.
Why The Pacers Could Cover The Spread
The Indiana Pacers have been hot of late, winning five of their last six games. A completely unrelated but historic event occurred in the Pacers last win against the Wizards. Russell Westbrook broke the Wizards franchise record for triple-doubles and hasn't even completed his first season with the organization. Back to Indiana. Domantis Sabonis has been huge for the Pacers this season and had another monster performance against Washington. He registered a double-double with 35 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Malcolm Brogdon played sidekick as he put up 26 points and eight assists.
Indiana has a solid nucleus and a good coaching staff. This team lacks two things, star-power at the top and depth on the bench. The bench will need to come up big against a deeper Heat roster. The Pacers have controlled the first two games against Miami this season and will look to continue that dominance. The Heat are still without Victor Oladipo, which is promising for an Indiana team hoping that Miami returns to their sluggish form from earlier in the season. Miami has lost six of their last seven games coming in as well.
Final Heat-Pacers Prediction & Pick
Recent history tells us that Indiana should have a huge edge tonight. They have won five of their last six and Miami has lost six of their last seven. That is not what the spread is saying to us, though. The spread is saying that Miami is healthy and will be clicking on all cylinders in Indiana. The Heat collectively played very well in New York behind their lethal defense. Miami has a deeper roster, more firepower at the top, and the advantage of taking the Pacers on in Indy. Indiana is 0-7 ATS in their last seven games at home and 4-12 ATS in their last 16 games overall.
FINAL HEAT-PACERS PICK: Miami Heat -1.5 (-115)
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